Santa
Clara County
Biographies
CAPT. CHRISTIAN LASS
The homestead which Captain Lass
purchased in 1894 comprises thirty-eight acres and lies near Santa Clara on the
Los Gatos road. The year after purchasing the property he erected a commodious
and attractive two-story residence, making of the place a well-improved and
desirable home in which to pass the afternoon of his active life. He is an old
resident of California, where he arrived April 15, 1862, and ever since then,
although his voyages have taken him to various ports of the world, he has
regarded this state as his home, finding in no other region a country combining
so many attractions of climate and soil as are afforded by the Pacific coast.
Of German birth and descent, Captain
Lass was born in Schleswig, August 18, 1843, and is a son of Frederick and
Johanna (Brack) Lass, natives of the same province,
both now deceased, the father having died in Eckerfoerde
January 17, 1904. In a family of four sons and one daughter Christian was the
eldest. Following the German custom, he was given a good common school
education. At the age of fifteen he shipped to sea as a cabin boy and afterward
was engaged as ordinary seaman on the ship Lucy Caroline. Some years later, as
able seaman, he sailed to Spain and other countries. In the fall of 1861 he
landed in New York and from there shipped to San Francisco as able seamen,
arriving in the spring of 1862. His next voyage took him on a Danish ship to
Port Gamble, from which point the vessel conveyed a cargo of lumber to
Valparaiso. Soon afterward he returned to Germany, and thence crossed the ocean
again to New York, where he left the ship. While the Civil war was in progress,
in 1864, he ran a sloop, General Brady by name, in the employ of the United
States government. Since then he has been principally engaged in the coasting
trade.
In October, 1868, Captain Lass was
made master of the schooner Annie Forbes, on the Sacramento river,
continuing to operate the boat for two years. In the spring of 1870 he bought
an interest in a schooner on the same river, but six months later disposed of
the same. His next purchase was a schooner known as Three Sisters, which he ran
for two years. In 1873 he bought the Elnorah, which
had been built two years before, and of this he continued to be captain until
1885, meanwhile sailing not only along the coast, but also going to Mexico and
Honolulu. With two partners, in 1886 he built the Comet, a three-masted schooner, with a capacity of four hundred and
twenty-nine tons, and he still owns and interest in this vessel, although he
has not acted as master since 1890. It is one of the most substantial among all
the vessels that he has operated, and was built in the yards at Fort Blakeley,
Wash., since which time it has been utilized in the coast trade, and in
addition has made voyages to Australia, as well as nearer points, such as Puget
Sound, San Pedro and Gray Harbor. In 1891 he superintended the building of the
Meteor at Fort Blakeley, a vessel of six hundred tons, which he operated as
captain until 1895, but retains his financial interests in various vessels
engaged in the coast trade.
The marriage of Captain Lass was
solemnized in San Francisco March 7, 1869, and united him with Mrs. Julia Anna
Christina (Peterson) Jorgenson, a native of Hamburg, Germany. Their older son,
Frederick, has charge of the home ranch. The other son, Henry, is master of the
schooner John A. Campbell, engaged in the Pacific coast trade. On account of
his occupation, which has kept him at sea much of the time, Captain Lass never
has been active in public affairs nor prominent in political matters, but he
keeps posted concerning events of interest and politically voted with the
Republican party. For years he has been connected with the Master Mariners of
San Francisco. Among sea-faring men he has a host of warm personal friends, who
will always cherish in memory his hearty kindness, genial manner and warm
hospitality.
Transcribed By: Cecelia M. Setty.
Source: History of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast
Counties, California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 1150-1153. The
Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2016 Cecelia M. Setty.